Formation
by jaimi-or-jaemi
Summary: Story on in the Pack Series, it is the pre-story to Seeking telling of the formation of the military pack
1. Last Weeks of Uni

_Hi all, this is the prestory to Seeking about how the military pack came to be. O__riginally I was going to hold off posting until it was done, but since Seeking is nearly to chapter 50 I figured I better get this started now. _

_The time line in my world is just a bit different than it is in Sherlock. _

_BBC and ACD own the parts that can be recognized _

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_Chapter 1: Last Weeks of Uni  
__John's POV  
_Three weeks before he was to graduate with his Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery he had decided to go into the army. Now, with just a few days left till graduation he was trying to figure out how to tell his family that. For most nineteen year olds it was a simple matter, but then most nineteen year olds were not elite wolves who were one of the two alpha-heirs to a wolf-pack.

In the past there would have been no question about it, he would have entered the armed forces with the entire families backing. However six members of the pack had already been lost to the Afghanistan war; all due to poor medical services provided to shifters. Another four were missing, but their link was fading more daily which caused his uncle to be sure that they were dead or dying. A rather frustrating thing since there seemed to be no way for them to get their missing pack members back.

Now, as his finals approach with rapid clarity he has still not figured out how to tell his family of his plan. It was causing him a lot of headaches really.

A knock at his apartment door draws his mind away from the problem at hand. A quick sniff of the air tells him that it is Melisa, the wolf-child who is studying to be a pediatrician and the female he is currently sleeping with. Smiling, he gets up and stretches as he walks over to the door to pull it open, leaning down to kiss her in greeting as he does so.

"Hello beautiful," he murmurs, "how's it going?"

She smiles at him, before replying, "Boring 'til now. I was wondering if you had time to study with me."

Smiling, he pulls the door open the rest of the way for her and lets her in, while they will study for a bit, they share a lot of the same classes after all, they both know that the night will end in a far different manner.

Grinning, she saunters in with ease and sprawls on his bed, dropping her book bag next to it and pulling out her text books for the first of the classes they share together.

"Well come on," she tells him as she eyes the door that he hasn't shut yet.

Chuckling with ease, he pushes it shut with his heel before pulling off his jacket and grabbing his required book off of the desk before joining her on the bed. For a few hours they actually manage to accomplish their work and get all their shared classes homework done before closing them up and dropping the books on the floor with a shared grin.

Rubbing against him, she arches her back and presents her neck in rather canine fashion. Despite the fact she is more human than shifter, she still has her cycle like a wolf shifter female, which is to say two to three days once every three months. But those three days can be super crazy. The use of birth control works to lessen the effects of it, but not much. Normally the only time she ever gets really touchy is right before her heat starts.

So far they had been through five heats together, the first two prior to dating because she had smelled ever so fuckable and he had approached her with the offer of unconditional sex with the clear understanding that there was no bond mark so neither had claim on the other. According to his female cousins and pack mates, it was useful to have assistance during the heat. The one really useful thing about their biology is the only time a female had to worry about getting pregnant is if she was with her bondmate when having sex with a shifter male. She had accepted that first offer and they had spent most the weekend in his apartment with him introducing her to the use of a shifter lover instead of a human one.

Over the next couple of months they really didn't talk to each other, he still dated and enjoyed his late nights with a variety of females, human and shifter alike, but always on the clear understanding that nothing was coming from the relationship. For some reason the girls were always for it. Particularly among the shifter girls where he gained a reputation for knowing how to keep them satisfied during the heats, not something that was easy to do apparently. It meant that he never had to go a weekend without female companionship if he wanted. Then almost three months after her first heat, she had approached him to see if they could repeat it again and he had agreed. By the time her third heat rolled around they were mostly dating, though he still occasionally slept with other girls during their heats. Now they were approaching the end of their time at uni and with it the end of their relationship.

"So, its Thursday night, we have only study hall tomorrow, and my heat starts tomorrow. What say we make it one for the record books?" she suggests in a husky murmur against his throat as she turns to press her nose against his throat. "We both know as soon as we graduate this ends. I am thinking of finding a nice stable human wolf-child, then if we want kids we can have them, and I can start establishing myself and a home, possibly get accepted into a fringe pack."

Smiling, he nuzzles her neck and shoulder a bit, enjoying the scent of her as her body shifts from normal to heat. He always loved the way a females scent changed before their heat, it became ever so attractive, at the same time it was not overwhelming the way he had been told the scent between bondmates could become. Running a trail of kisses down her shoulder, he replies, "That would be acceptable." Nibbling at her shoulder blade he suggests, "How about we stock up the fridge, have one last night on the town, and then retreat back here?"

"Sounds amazing," she moans as he runs the flat of his tongue against the pulse in her throat.

Smiling, he is on his feet and ready to go before she has had a chance to even process.

"You're a tease," she informs him with a mischievous smile.

As she stands, he catches her against him, pulling her close to kiss her softly before suggesting, "Why don't you go get ready and I will pick you up in one hour?"

Nodding, she kisses him back one more time before grabbing her book bag and head out.

Once she is gone, he heads to the local grocer to pick up a variety of foods for them to snack on over the next couple of days. At the grocer he spends a few minutes talking to the cashier, a young wolf from his pack who had just recently moved to London and was establishing herself in the area. Afterwards, he heads back to his room to put the food up before bathing and changing into an outfit he is sure she will appreciate with well fitting black slacks and a nice royal blue button down shirt, with matching black socks and shoes. Like most wolves, he prefers not to wear any sort of scent besides his own and at times his body-wash. Smiling at the image he presents in the mirror, he runs a quick hand through his short hair, musing it just a bit before doing one last inventory and heading out.

When he gets to Melisa's dorm room, he knocks twice, waiting for her to open the door as is polite. He had stopped at the flower shop earlier on his way home to pick up a bouquet sweet-peas, zinnias, white heathers, and cattails.

It is less than a minute later when she pulls the door open, smiling and dressed in her favorite light blue dress, a small bag on the floor by the door.

"Hello again, beautiful," he murmurs, leaning forward to kiss her softly before handing the flowers to her.

Accepting the flowers, she smells them, her smile growing before she turns to put them in a vase. As custom dictates, she sets the vase on the table by her bedside before stating, "Thank you," her voice soft and just a little sad.

Turning back to him, she comes swaying over, long black hair curling around her as she does so, "Shall we go have a great last few days?" her voice is once more cheerful as she accepts his arm and the two of them leave, pulling the door shut behind them.

"I have arranged for a table at your favorite restaurant, then I figured we could go to the club where we spent our first official date, before returning to the apartment." he tells her as they head toward the parking lot.

She smiles, nodding, her scent content.

The trip to the restaurant goes smoothly, while he does not drive all the time, he is still rather proficient at it. Upon reaching the restaurant he politely opens the door for her and walks her in, still showing all the courtesy that he feels is appropriate for a date. Dinner goes smoothly with the two of them chatting and flirting, just enjoying each other's company. When they are done, they walk down the block to the club where they had had their first actual date. The next several hours are spent with them dancing, cuddling, and occasionally making out until very early in the morning, at which point he escorts her back to the car and then drives them back to his place.

When they get to his apartment, he grabs her bag from the back seat and the two of them head in. Nothing more than a good cuddle occurs between the two of them. His compact body wrapped around her slender one in sleep.

Morning comes early for him, as he tends to wake up at five thirty daily. Upon waking, he slips out of the bed carefully, making sure not to disturb Melisa as he does so. After using the bathroom to complete his normal morning clean up, he dresses in loose fitting black sleeping pants and heads into the kitchen part of the apartment to make a quick breakfast of blueberry pancakes. Once it is done, he places it on a dining tray along with the syrup, butter, and orange juice to go with before heading over to the corner of the room with the bed.

Setting it down on the night stand, he perches on the edge of the bed and leans over her, kissing her until she awakens. He can smell her need as her body goes into heat. Slowly she comes to, kissing him back languidly, gentle little presses of lips and tongue.

"Hmmmmm, John," she moans when they finally pause to breath.

"Morning," he murmurs as he kisses her one more time before sitting up to grab the tray of breakfast.

She smiles as she sees the tray, shifting to sit further up on the bed. "Thank you," she whispers as she leans forward to kiss him again.

Breakfast goes wonderfully for the pair as they take turns feeding each other pancakes, kissing, and cuddling. The amount of affection is high in the air and it is not long after they finish eating that her body really begins to need. He can smell the instant her heat fully begins.

After taking the dishes to the sink, he returns to the bed, pressing her down into the pillows as he proceeds to kiss her senseless. Within minutes she is moaning into his mouth has her slender fingering sink into his ash blonde hair.

"I'm going to miss this," she murmurs as he begins to kiss, lick, and nip his way down her jaw to her throat.

Any other time she would be a more active participate, but he had made it clear early on that when she was in heat to just allow him to enjoy himself, so she does and takes pleasure in every moment of it. He has very talented hands and as those hand move to gently cup her breasts, the thumb flickering over her already hardening nipple she finds herself gasping again, her body moving of its own accord as she rubs against him.

He can smell her need and smiles against her throat as he continues to work his way down her body, stopping to suck at her breasts, first the left then the right, before running the flat of his tongue down the centerline of her stomach, dipping it slowly into her belly button before continuing on. When he gets to her panties, he slowly peals them back with his fingers even as his talented tongue dances over the light line they leave in her skin.

"John," she sighs as she tries to arch up into him, only one arm has her held in place.

Her body is still as he then traces the junction of her legs, nosing at the downy black curls without ever giving her what she is craving. She is whimpering, needing, and smells divine in her current state. He loves the smell of ready female, even more so when he knows that said female is truly content with what's going on.

Smirking, he by passes her hidden spot to continue kissing down her legs, taking the time to lick and nip at each one in turn. By the time he reaches her ankles she is sobbing with need and the scent is filling the entire apartment. His smirk seems to grow as she does so. Just as slowly making his way back up her body he pauses momentarily at the junction of her thighs to slip his tongue into that wet warmth he knows awaits him there. Sure enough, the taste of her arousal is potent and with a low growl, he surges up the rest of her body, catching her lips with his just as he pushes all the way in on the first slide.

He is not sure which one of them moans, only that she seems to still be moaning as his hips start to piston back and forth in a rapid, pulsing ride. She whimpers, her legs wrapping around his waist, pulling him closer even as he lifts her hips just the slightest, changing the positioning that their bodies connect in the littlest bit and hitting up against that sweet spot that has her begging for more. Within minutes she is coming hard around him and he just smiles and keeps on kissing her, swallowing every noise that escapes her mouth as he pounds her into the mattress.

As he feels her second orgasm build, he against shifts his hips, this time making it so he goes deeper, enjoying the feeling of her clinching around him in need.

"John!" she keens as her crest hits again. He can smell the break in her cycle, the first of several that she will have. Moments later the both of them are coming, him groaning into her mouth even as she screams into his.

Several minutes pass as they lay there, his body covering hers but supported by his arms.

Smiling devilishly he inquires, "Care to have a go in the shower?"

She grins back at him, bucking up into his hips and causing him to stir again. "Maybe in a while," she murmurs in reply as she pushes against him, enjoying the groan that escapes.

It is a long while before they make it to that shower and by the time that they do, he has found that he is hungry again so the time in the shower is rather brief with the only thing happening is their getting clean.

After the shower they eat again, this time some fruit off of a premade fruit tray he had picked up for just this purpose. Like breakfast several hours before it is filled with flirting and teasing as they eat, also like breakfast it ends up leading into something more just not as quickly. This time, she is the one to put the dishes up, going to place the food inside the fridge before coming back to bed. Only she never makes it to the bed, because as she passes by the sofa in front of the fire place he pounces, moving faster than she is used to, pressing her roughly against it as his blunt fingers rub along her back and ass, making her moan.

He smirks as he pushes her legs apart and slowly starts to push up into her without any other warning. She begs and pleads, asking him and whatever god who is listening for mercy, for more, for satisfaction.

He merely smiles as he answers against her neck, "I'll satisfy you, that's a promise, but first, first let's have a little fun."

She moans in response trying to push back against him but unable to because he is holding her in place, caging her body against the sofa with his own, his hips moving in a steady pattern as he thrusts in, withdraws, circles, and repeats. Before long she is a simmering mass of wolf-child just begging to be filled and fill her he does until she is screaming her pleasure.

The next two days go much the same with only short breaks for food and drink, and the occasional loo break as well. Most the time is spent with him locked inside her, filling her, and making her wish that a mark would appear even though she knew it was futile. He on the other hand was having a hard time not listening in on her thoughts as she occasionally projected to him.

When they were done, her heat spent and their weekend over, she carefully collects up all her things before walking to the door.

"Someday John you're going to have the perfect mate for you and I hope I am there to see it," she murmurs to him as she kisses his cheek, "Goodbye."

He nuzzles his nose against her hair for a moment, pulling her close for one last hug, before kissing her back and replying, "Goodbye Melisa, I think you will do great, just have faith in yourself."

A sad smile curls her lips and he can smell her sorrow but also her hope as she walks out the door for the last time.

That night after she has been long gone he cleans each and every inch of the apartment, removing all scents from it besides his own. Not only does he do so out of tradition he also does so because he does not wish to be distracted in this last week when exams will be so important. When he is done with that, he fishes out his books and proceeds to study, tomorrow is the first day of exams.

Over the next four days he completes each and every exam. Attending the finals and enjoying saying goodbye to his friends. Some of the classes go easily, the exams requiring little effort to complete. Other classes take more effort to complete the exams. Despite that, he is certain that he has done well in all of his classes and that his exams will have high scores. By the time he makes it home on the fourth day he is exhausted and he barely thinks as he collapses onto his bed.

He has completed his Bachelors in Medicine at nineteen years old. While the grades will not be final until the end of next week at the same time as when they are to do the graduation ceremony, he is certain that he is going to have some of the highest in his graduating class.

Now he has the harder task to do, the part he dreads, telling his uncle that he has decided to enlist as a military doctor. It will allow him to pay for his medical degree himself and find out what has been happening to the shifters who have joined the forces. Yet at the same time he knows that it is going to be a fight on his hands from his family because he is one of the heirs to the pack leadership and because this is mostly a human war.

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AN: the flower boutique he gets her means the following:

Sweet-peas: thank you for a lovely time.  
Zinnias: lasting affection in memory.  
White heathers: wish will come true.  
Cattails: peace and prosperity.  
Thus the overall meaning equals: thank you for the lovely time, I will remember you with affection, may all your wishes come true in peace and prosperity.


	2. Family Dinner

_Chapter 2: Family Dinner  
__John's POV  
_The Monday following his exams he makes his way to the recruitment office on campus. While he is not going to hand in the paperwork today, he wishes to pick it up so he can get a start on it. Upon getting there he spends a few minutes speaking with the recruiter about the positions that he could official sign up for. When the recruiter hears the fact he has completed his Bachelors in Medicine and only has his residency to complete before he will be a full doctor, he grabs a second set of papers for him to fill out. These papers were for more advanced credentials, in this case his medical school information. Applications of this type could apply directly to officer school and skip through the enlisted ranks.

Bidding the recruiter farewell he heads to his apartment to start getting his things packed, not that it will take long, he has a tendency to keep everything as efficient as it needs to be. By supper time, he has packed all of his things into the boxes that had been dropped off for him to do so in. As soon as he notifies Briar his things are ready, they would be picked up and taken back to the Watson pack family home for him. Then once he has decided where to live, they would be removed to there.

If all goes according to plan, it will be stored at the pack home for several years while he does his time in the service.

Sighing, he stretches before settling in at the table with all of the paperwork to fill out. He will have to take the aptitude tests as well, but that can be done after his degree is finalized. Most of the paperwork is simple, name, age, birthday, NI number, primary address at the time of application, claim to shifter status, marriage status, education, and anything else that they feel is important . The second part is a bit more complicated because it includes his training and skills, his degree, and goals. Once he has it as complete as he can, he sets it aside and stretches again.

In three days time he will receive his official grades and scores. He can finish the paperwork then. The day after was the official graduation. That night he was due at the pack family home for a family dinner that was supposed to include his parents, sister, granddame, uncle, aunt and her bondmate, and all of the cousins. In total there would probably be twenty to thirty people. It was going to be a long night, he thinks.

While he is close to his uncle that is not going to stop the problems that erupt when he finally tells the head of his pack and family that he is going into the military to be a field surgeon.

He wants to find out what is happened to the shifters on the frontlines. They are faster and stronger, they should not be dying of simple things that any iota can heal within moments, and that human doctors can repair within hours. So why were they? His ability to shield was going to be very useful for this since it would allow him to gather the information without being seen, heard, or smelled.

So how to spend his last few days, he wonders, as he changes gears from considering the future to considering now. Friends, pack-mates, and family he rarely sees would be good. If things go according to plan it would be a while before he would be able to do so again. With that decided he makes a couple of calls and emails before eating dinner. Of the people he got in touch with several of them had plans already, but the rest were more than willing to make plans for the next few days with him or invite him to join their plans instead.

That night after dinner, he cleans up and dresses for a night on the town, before going to join the guys from his rugby team for drinks and dancing. By the time he gets home, most folks have been asleep for hours. Smiling, he prepares himself for bed and thinks, this might not be a bad few days.

The next few days go in a flash for him while he spends all of his time hanging out with friends, visiting favorite places, and just getting little things accomplished. On Thursday he stops and gets his official grades from the records hall as soon as they are available before returning home to finish the paperwork for the application process. Upon finishing it, he debates about turning it in now or waiting until Monday to do so. Monday, he decides, would be better, this can be his last weekend of pure freedom, or as free as he is sure to get when he tells his family. Sighing, he decides to tell them after dinner. No reason to ruin the mood right before the meal.

The next morning comes early to him as he gets up and works through the exercises he had originally started as a way to build himself up in order to match some of the physically stronger humans and shifters on his rugby team. He might be an elite but he refused to use that as an excuse to not actually take care of himself. When he is done with his morning exercises, he heads to the shower to clean up before having a small breakfast. He will not be eating a lot for the most part today because tonight is a family dinner and the Old Gods know that if he does not eat then there will be hell to pay.

The time between when he finishes his preparation and when it is time for the graduation ceremony goes smoothly with him checking to make sure all of his things are packed. Last night was his last in this apartment. The moving team will have everything gone before the graduation ceremony is complete.

About half an hour before he was due at the ceremony, he does one last check of himself, making sure that he looks orderly before heading to where he is supposed to be. Despite the fact he is the youngest graduating in his group, he is also the one with the top ten in his class, number three or four. Afterwards, his family collects him up with a big round of praise and congratulations as they head to the families vehicles, he will ride with his parents and sister.

Harry is excited for him. He is the youngest person to ever finish university in their family. She had not even managed to get the most basic classes done because she was forever arguing with the teachers. Instead, she had dropped out and started working for their uncle doing paperwork for the family's real-estate business. It was not work she was happy with but it is work that allows her to pay for her own home and the never ending collection of lovers that she took.

His father, a golden wolf named Jason who is a rather short man when compared to most the pack, inquires if he wishes to open his own clinic to which he replies eventually, after he has had formal practice working in his field for a bit. Apparently this is the right answer, because he nods once, and returns his attention to driving. His mother, a brown wolf named Vianne originally from France, babbles away at him as they are riding in the car. Thankfully, he is well used to her babbling and ignores most of it, paying only the barest amount of attention as she talks about how proud she is of her doctor son.

When they get to the house, he excuses himself and vanishes to the kitchen where he finds his Aunt Sandra busy cooking away. She had come to his graduation but she had probably left just as soon as he was done in order to get back to her kitchen.

"Aunt," he murmurs in greeting as he hugs her carefully.

"John," she replies, hugging him back with one arm as she stirs with the other. "I was proud to see you complete your degree. You are the first in our family to use your gifts in the real world as well."

"Can I help any?" he inquires, blushing lightly at her praise.

She nods, and sets him to work on the desert, he gets to chop up the apples for the pies she wishes to make. As they work the two of them share an easy conversation, he enjoys cooking nearly as much as he enjoys healing, had he not become a doctor he would have become a cook. Perhaps it is something he will look into later in his life instead. Several hours pass as the two cooks and eventually she sends him to ring the dinner bell to let everyone know that food is done. It had been installed when she had started cooking mass meals for the pack, as a way to summon everyone for food, the family could have kept servants but that did not sit well with any of the current members so they took care of themselves instead, with some of the lesser pack members coming over twice a week to clean and being well paid for their efforts.

As is custom, each family member stops by the kitchen to grab a plate or tray to put on the dining table, this way everyone can eat at the same time without one or two people making a bunch of trips to deliver the food to the dining area. After everyone is seated a prayer is said to the Earth Lord in thanks before they begin to eat.

For the first part of the meal everything goes smoothly, he is seated roughly halfway down the table near his cousins and sisters of a similar age. They are discussing how their respective education is going, most of them are in secondary school, collage, or university. His aunts, mother, and grandmother are all seated close together chatting about how things have been since the last time they had seen each other almost a month prior, while his father and uncles are busy talking about work.

Somewhere along the way he hears his Uncle Eric remark, "You should take him to a Seer, Jason. As one of my heirs it is important that we find out what type of girl he is to be bonded with. It is very important that she is well able to take over the alpha-second slot if he ends up being it."

His father nods as he takes another bite of food, saying nothing.

"I am still not certain why you allowed him to train as a human doctor would, we are shifters, his training as an iota should be more than enough for anything he would need do. Besides, he should not be too reliant on healing, realistically healing may save lives but there is no reason to weaken ones self by not understanding pain too." His uncle comments.

Most the time he gets along well with his uncle, however one thing they have always differed on is the fact he feels the need to help people, while the only people his uncle helps is the pack, and even then there seems to always be a price attached in some form.

"I think he spent too much time with mother," his father responds before taking another bite of his food. "She has funny ideas about healing too."

His grandmothers eyes narrow at her sons but she says nothing to them, continuing instead to speak with her daughter and bond daughter-in-laws instead.

"Still, find his bondmate and get him to breeding. From my understanding he enjoys the company of females so that will not be a problem." His uncle just about orders, "then we will see about this doctor concept, perhaps we can find another shifter for him to work under until he has had practice. Then he can open a clinic that is for our kind, not the humans if he insists on this path."

Losing his patience he looks over to his uncle, catching his eye and stating, "Actually, uncle, don't bother with either, I plan to enter the army next week to become a field surgeon in Afghanistan. They are not calling for them yet, but they will be, and soon. This war is new and already we have lost friends and family, pack-mate to it. I plan to stop that or try my damnest anyways."

"I forbid it." his father and uncle both snap before looking at each other in shock.

His uncle is the one who continues, "You cannot, as one of the heirs until you produce offspring I will not allow it."

He smiles tightly, answering, "Forbid away, I am still doing it. It's our duty to the pack to try and stop the needless deaths of our pack members, or have you forgotten that lesson that you drilled into my head? Even if I have to give up my family, I will be doing this."

Silence reigns at the table, most of the cousins are staring at him is complete shock. Nobody talks back to Eric like that except for his daughter, and everyone knows what kind of problems that can cause.

"Excuse me?" his uncle demands.

"I said, I am going into the armed forces as a field surgeon and even if you forbid me I am still going it is our duty to our pack." He replies, repeating himself.

"Eric, John, why don't you retire to the study to speak of this after dinner?" his Aunt Sandra suggests as she starts to put all of the empty dinner dishes on the cart kept in the dining area for just that purpose. Some of the other younger members of the family join her, but there is still silence as everyone watches the staring contest.

Like him, his uncle is an elite wolf. However his uncle also has the alpha's gift, the ability to use his voice to make people obey, he does not. However, he is very good at overriding orders given in the alpha's voice, making it pointless to use it on him. The two of them continue their battle of wills as his aunt and some of the cousins bring out the pie and set it out.

Finally Cousin Emma, Uncle Eric's daughter and primary heir snaps, "As the only other elite in this family I judge that you will discuss it like civilized wolves when we are done. Now stop being rude to the rest of the family!" her temper is sharp, inherited from her mother who was also an elite prior to dying during child birth.

The two of us nod, going back to eating but silence remains through the rest of the meal. As soon as the two of them are done, they both push away from the table and head towards the office without another word.

He is sure that there is going to be more arguing so he is surprised when his uncle sighs and remarks, "You are set on this course?"

He nods, watching his uncle closely.

"Fine, then you will not be an enlisted soldier, you will go straight to officers school and become an officer instead. I do not like this. But as you pointed out, you are doing your duty by the pack, and I have to respect that. After all, you cannot be an alpha if you do not understand duty." His uncle continues before pausing to rub his neck. "Make sure that you are accepted into officers training. I will not have one of my heirs being a lowly enlisted soldier. Use the money from the pack to pay for it."

He nods again but realizes the conversation, if that's what you want to call it is done.

Shaking his head, he partially bows before withdrawing. He is not surprised to find his grandmother waiting for him outside the office. _You are sure? _She queries, her mind voice full of worry.

"I am," he replies.

_Then go with the Shadow Mistresses blessings._ She responds, pressing her palm against his cheek before heading up to her room.

Everyone else wants to talk about it, some try to talk him out of it, others are thrilled for him but it is his grandmother's actions that cause him to think the most.


	3. Signing Up

Hi folks! Sorry it took so long to update this, I fell Friday afternoon and hurt my leg so the pain killers the doctor gave me have made me a bit loopy, this is the first time I have been able to focus to get the editing on this done so I could turn it over for all you lovely people to read.

Any reviews, comments, bookmarks, subscriptions, or form of communication telling me what you think is greatly appreciated!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Signing Up  
__John's POV  
_The Monday following graduation and the family dinner he returned to the enlistment office with all of his paperwork completed. There was a different recruitment officer there then the last time he was in. With a polite smile he turns in the papers and waits patiently for the recruiter to go through them.

Once he has done so the recruiter looks up at him with a tight smile as he remarks, "This seems to be in order, you will need to do the aptitude tests and the physical. Nate should be back in an hour, if you want to do the aptitude tests now, when he gets back he can give you the basic physical."

He nods, replying, "That works well, thank you," his tone polite as he accepts the packet of papers and a pen.

The recruiter quickly explains the rules, and he nods his understanding before taking a seat at one of the small desks pressed up against the wall. Most of the first few pages is all simple things that he figures anyone can answer. As he works his way through it, the information gets a bit harder, but still pretty easy for him. The second packet, the one related to the specialization is harder but still not as hard as some of the exams he had taken when testing out of classes and finishing his degree.

It is just over two hours later when he gets the aptitude tests done. He had been aware of the moment the other recruiter got back. Just as he was aware of the other applicant who had started his aptitude test roughly fifteen minutes after him and was still working on, and of the other three people, all humans, who had come through to discuss joining as well. From what he could tell, he was one of the youngest to enlist, and the only one under twenty to have already completed a bachelor's degree before doing so.

When he was done with the aptitude test, he stands, walking over to the desk and handing over the papers. The recruiter blinks at him owlishly, taking a quick glance through them before calling the other man over to take him over to the other side of the room to do the basic parts of a physical to see if he would be able to do a full one. Over the course of the next hour he is put through his pace, or he would be if he was human. The next hour is full of him running on a high resistance treadmill, doing push-ups and sit-ups, being weighed in, and his height taken. By the time he is done, he has barely even warmed up but he waits to see if there is anything else he needs to test out on. Since there is nothing else for him to do, they tell him to report to basic training at the camp in five weeks and give him all of the paperwork needed for it.

He nods, accepting the papers and bidding them farewell before heading out. Now that he has an idea as to what he will need to do, he heads back to the family home, inquiring of his father as to whether he can teach him how to use a gun with decent proficiency. His father, while not pleased with the idea that his son will be going off to war, does so, teaching him with a set of guns that he has under special licensing as a collector. It was occasionally difficult to work with him, but he did so, getting his skills to the point where he could hit his target with any of the guns. He could also use the small hand gun to hit at a distance of thirty meters safely and accurately.

When he is not working with his father on his aim and ability to shoot, he is busy with his second cousin Mitchell working on his human fighting ability. It was decided somewhere that if he was going to do this, it was going to be done with the most ability towards his surviving his deployment. While Mitchell does not stick to any one particular form of martial arts, he does teach him how to get out of holds, use pressure points, dodge the hell out of the way, and use the area around him as a weapon on self defense. Then while not working with Mitchell, he is working on his physical fitness. He is aware that he is smaller than most human men, let alone shifter men, so makes up for it by training himself into better shape so that he can do well. Despite this, he knows not to do his best because he does not need to let those in charge know exactly what he can do.

Two and a half weeks into the five week period he gets a packet in the mail detailing his contract for entering the army as a doctor, the length of his service, and his requirements for the entering of the officers program. After reviewing everything, he signs the two required documents, and sends them back. During week four he gets a notice telling him of a complete physical he has to take, when and where it is to be, and the papers he needs to take with him. Two days later he completes the physical, getting cleared to continue into boot camp. The same day he gets cleared for boot camp, his uncle watches his training with Mitchell. When he is done working with his cousin, he is called to his uncle's side.

"Yes, Uncle Eric?" he inquires polite, inclining his head to show respect to the pack alpha.

For a moment his uncle says nothing, then the tall man answers him, "While I am not pleased with the idea of one of my heirs being in the middle of a dangerous human filled area, I have accepted it. As such, I have decided to teach you the talent that I was taught when I entered the military by my alpha."

Silence falls between the two as the older shifter stares out at the family property and he waits for him to continue, he has the feeling that his uncle is not done speaking so he will wait before he speaks. Sure enough, he is correct and after a few minutes reflection he continues to speak.

"Do you know what our packs special talent is? It is not something that has ever been taught to outsiders, and to my knowledge none of the other packs have such a gift." His uncle inquires finally.

He gives a small shake of his head as he replies, "No sir, I know our pack has some of the best healers, and there has been a member of our family in the military for years though most have gotten out in recent years, many of our pack-mates have also gotten out or vanished."

Nodding, his uncle turns his light colored eyes towards him, "The special talent, one that very few have been able to learn even within our pack, is the ability to shield. Not just the sense shield that is used to keep the gifted from finding us when we run in wolf form, but a full shield that acts as an invisibility gift, making us unseen, unheard, unscented. I shall directly impart the knowledge to you the same way it was given to me when I was younger." He pauses for a moment, turning to face him the rest of the way. "May I?" the alpha wolf motions to his temple.

He nods slowly, once in acceptance, understanding his uncle is going to link with him and share the information the same way his granddame shares healing information. A moment later he can feel the slight brush of his uncles mind as he is pulled into the connection. Seconds after that, he feels as if he is a young wolf learning the talent from his father, going through the lessons of how to mask ever part of his being. The sharing lasts only moments but it feels as if he has lived through each of the memories, as his mind absorbs the knowledge.

After giving him some time to actually understand the lessons his uncle demands, "Show me."

Focusing internally he reviews the lessons quickly before walking himself through step by step the process. Within moments he has faded from awareness. He knows he is successful because he watches as his uncle looks around for him as he moves. He also feels the mental probe trying to find him but manages to keep his shields in place through it.

Finally his uncle commands "Drop them and explain the process to me."

Returning to where he had been standing he does so, his voice neutral as he explains the thrill of vanishing from sight, of masking his scent, of being untraceable. His uncle seems to find his explanation amusing but directs him to practice several times a day from now on in order to become able to do so at will with hardly any thought required. According to his uncle it is something he should be able to do without conscious thought, that way he will still be able to act normally while shielded. He thanks his uncle and returns home to sleep because he is suddenly feeling very tired.

Finally, when the five week period is complete he has one last dinner with his family before heading to bed. The following morning would be the first day of his basic training that would last for eight weeks. Then he would have a week off before having to start on his officer's classes and residency at the training hospital. His small bag was already packed with the few items he would take with him. In the morning he eats the healthy breakfast his mother had made him before kissing her on the cheek and catching a taxi to where he is supposed to go for boot camp.

The ride from his parent's house where he had been staying to the base is short it seems even though he knows it actually takes almost half hour. Upon getting there, he checks in with security and is taken to join the others that are waiting for formation.

While he waits for the commanding officer he glances around casually with his senses taking note of the amount of humans, shifters, and gifted within the group. Getting a note of the various feelings in the air, he mentally marks which ones will probably be issues. Within his training group there are nine different shifters including himself. He carefully notes to himself what each one is, with the tallest person in their training unit being the easiest one to do so with since he wears his obsidian scales openly, his scent is that of some type of snake, and with scales like those he is certain the answer is black cobra. The next easiest one to note is the smallest female in the group, she is has the underlying scent of a mouse. There is a darker colored man who holds himself as if he was raised by someone within the peerage, that one seems to be a bird of some sort according to his scent. There is a hyena in the group, though it takes him a few minutes to find the compact brown haired man that scent belongs to. He can smell cat too, though it takes a few minutes to identify all three of them. The first being a tall, golden-brown tone male with vibrant green eyes, the second being a female with more of a brass-gold tone female with narrow aquamarine eyes, while the last is a young man with dark brown hair with golden tones and grey eyes. The last shifter he can smell is a tall man with bronze gold hair and blue-green eyes. There are also two gifted ones in this group, both male according to scent though he has not figured which to it is.

Before he has a chance to do more than figure out who the shifters are a tall man with dark hair comes striding into the area with two others following close behind him. while he does not smell of shifter or gifted, he can tell that he has command and that he is used to being obeyed because he carries himself the same way his uncle does.

"Line up! Five lines of ten." the human barks out, and he falls in with the others, taking the third line because that is where he is closest to when everyone starts to obey. In less than three minutes everyone has found a spot, either because they were pulled in by someone nearby or because they are smart enough to do so on their own.

The next few hours go in a blur as they are briefed, given physicals of the how much can you do in this time range type, and assigned to units. Once all that is done, they are told to grab their things, lead to a barracks where they are assigned beds and small chests and the taken to get the supplies that they will need. By super time he is pleased that he had been smart enough to train at home, otherwise the pace they were putting them through would have been tiring. As it is, he does not try to get to know his fellow trainees yet preferring instead to waiting until he has seen how everyone behaves. One thing is for sure, he plans to try and befriend all of the shifters in their training group. After super they are showed to the showers which are not actually connected to the barracks, and told to get cleaned up before they have two hours before lights out.

He spends those two hours after his shower wandering around the base, alternating between being shielded and not as he does so. When the ten minute trumpets sound, he returns to his barracks to lay down, his mind mentally reviewing everything. As a iota he had also been taking inventory of his new group, seeing how healthy each of them were. He falls asleep considering what he has learned about the base and those he will be working with.

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AN: I'm not British, however I do look up the gun laws for Britain to make this as accurate as I could, as long as his father kept the guns in an approved area and was fully licensed as a collector he would be able to have them. Also I used what I was told by a friend of his day of basic training for a friend entering the US military as my basis for what the first day of training was going to be like for John.


	4. Boot Camp

_Reviews pretty, pretty please? I really appreciate reviews._

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_Chapter 4: Boot Camp  
__John's POV  
_The first week of boot camp went in a flash for him as he adjusted to the grueling pace. It was probably a good thing he awoke early naturally or these mornings would have been hell on him. They were up at five am daily, followed by dressing and breakfast by six, after that the first hour was spent doing various exercises, followed by weapons training with breaking apart, cleaning, and putting together their guns until lunch, a brief lunch followed by marching and other unit building and exercising, dinner was a bit longer, then clean up, free time, and bed.

During his free time, he spent a lot of time wandering around the base shielded. Each practice improves how long and well he can use the shields, though starting off they drain him, making him feel exhausted. Thus he determines that he needs to continue practicing until he can do so around large groups without it tiring him out. At this point he can shield for several hours while there are very few people around but when people are around he cannot go as long or as effectively.

The first day of the second week the squads are assigned for training with. His squad includes all of the shifters he had noticed that first day. The tallest is Eric, he is an elite black cobra, his healing gift can feel that there is something wrong with him but cannot identify anything physically wrong, which means it must be an emotional problem. The smallest is Cyanne, a mouse without a clan link but nothing that he can sense wrong past that, her link was willingly broken, so it was not traumatic. Jacob was the one who carried himself like a noble, he is an elite peregrine falcon and the first person he got along without any posturing which is unusual among elites. The one who smells like a hyena is actually a multiform named Christopher who is respectful right off though distrusting, he has never had a pack bond from what he can tell, and is reacting to him out of instincts not training. The grey eyed cat is a hybrid between cloud leopard and eagle that seems to hide what he is named Zachary. The other male cat is a cocky elite cheetah named Thomas that likes to brag about what he is and has massive problems with authority. The female cat is a multiform whose pack had broken her link because she was also a mouse, leaving Elspeth to feel restless. The last two members of their unit are both humans, one a male name Sawyer with an extreme attitude problem, the other a human male named Lee trying to escape a life of poverty not the smartest but very stubborn.

Almost as soon as the squads are assigned there is a bit of a competition for the squad leaders spot. While himself, Cyanne, Eric, Jacob, Zachary, and Lee do not try to fight for the spot, the other four in their unit do. It really wouldn't have been a problem, except for some reason the higher ups had selected him as the squad leader and the other ones were trying to fight with him to win the right to the spot. He understands it is the way of shifters, but it makes it no less annoying.

Three days into the third week, he finally gets frustrated with it, and snarls low in his throat at the cheetah, which is the worst of the challengers. The one who had beat the others for dominance, leaving him at the top of his annoyance. The cheetah growls back at him.

"Fine, you want to fight, we'll fight, tonight after curfew when there is no one around we'll have a traditional dominance fight." He snaps, "However there will need to be three shifter witnesses."

The grey eyed cat remarks, "I'll witness."

"So will I," snaps the female cat who did not take losing to the cheetah very well.

He is surprised when the cobra is the third to agree, "I will witness the dominance as tradition demands."

The cheetah snarls at him again and the day passes tensely. That night after midnight the all eight shifters make their way outside and to a part of the base that is off of camera sight and not regularly patrolled. When they get to the spot, the six witnesses fan out around the pair.

A moment later he has shifted into his wolf form, while the cat turns into his cheetah form. Since they are both elites, they stand almost as tall in their animal forms as they do in their human forms. Actually, his wolf form is bigger than his human form. Standing nearly nose to nose, he studies the other shifter. The cheetah is roughly a foot shorter than him. However he is longer and sleeker. He is not made of heavy muscle but lithe grace.

The cobra steps between them, motioning the other two to take their place on either side of the shifters.

_Thomas, Elite Cheetah, you have challenged John, Elite Wolf, for the leadership position. This is a fight to submission, there will be no fatal injuries. Proceed._ The cobra broadcasts to the entire group.

As he steps back, the cheetah lunges at him, swiping with a large paw at his jaw as he tries to ram his shoulder blade into his legs. He jumps straight upwards, springing over top of the cat to lash out with his own paw at the cats shoulder as he moves. He connects with the cats shoulder before he lands, spinning around to face the now frustrated cat. Growling the cat lunges at him again and he barely moves out of the way, stumbling a little as he does so. Round three is when the cat again tries to slash at him with his claws. He is just barely hit but it burns something fierce as it seeps blood.

Growling, he concentrates on using his limited empathy-telepathy combination to see what the cat is going to do next. When he gets a feel for what he is about to do, he hops backwards, waiting patiently while the cat lunges at him again, only this time he catches the cat by the back of the neck, sharp teeth sinking into the fur without harming but tight enough to keep hold. The cat growls at him. Attempting to twist and turn out of his grasp, lashing out with his claws in an attempt to injure, using his tail as a weapon. Only none of it works because he is not fighting another cheetah who is more speed than strength, he's fighting a wolf, a wolf who learned how to fight from other wolves. Finally the cat wears himself out and ends up slumping down exhausted, his entire body seeming to give out.

**_Do you submit?_ **He growls at the cat.

_**I submit**,_ the cat replies.

Releasing the cat's neck, he watches as the other shifter returns to human form, on his knees, body still bent double.

"Elder," the cat murmurs, accepting that he has lost.

He shifts back to his human form, looking carefully at each of them. "There will be no more of this during our training. You selected to live and work among humans, now act like it."

All of the shifters except the cobra agree, the cobra merely watches him with narrow eyes.

Silently, the eight shifters return to their bunks, however he takes reaches out and touches the cats arm as he walks in the door to the room, healing any damage he might have done before heading to bed. This earns a peculiar look from the cheetah that he had just beaten, apparently it was not expected.

The next few days go smoothly for the first time since they were assigned their groups. All of the shifters work well together, though the cobra is distant. Since a clear hierarchy seems to be developing the problems that had originally plagued their squad vanish and they become some of the best in the training field. Once they get past the trying to determine dominance, their abilities explode outward, with their group picking up the skills faster than anyone expects, particularly among the shifters.

By the first day of the fourth week a new routine has been settled on. Not only do they do all of the tasks within a regular day, they also have added a tendency to check in with him, making sure he knows what they are doing, at least all of them but the cobra does. Since they are not part of a formal pack he ends up questioning this, and during one of his conversations with Jacob at night he inquiries about it while they sit on the roof of their dorm building.

"Why are all of the shifters checking in with me so regularly?" he inquires of the slightly older man.

The dark haired shifter chuckles, replying, "You're the Elder of our group, it is important to follow the direction of the elder, none of us have active coops."

He hums in response, making a noise to show he understands while continuing to think about it. He is the elder of the group? How? His only fight was against the cheetah. Wait. The cheetah had won against the others. Oh. He had participated in a dominance fight. A formal one. The type that would have been called an Alpha fight within the wolf packs. He was unbonded alpha of this little pack of shifters. None of them were of the same variety, but he had been the one to win, thus he was the one that was respected. Well that might make things interesting. It would be good practice for when he is the alpha of his own pack.

The falcon smiles as he looks out at the mostly dark base. "You're good at it, despite the fact you seem completely surprised by the idea. You know, you're the only one with a coop mark on him. Is there a reason you left your coop to join the human military?"

He shrugs, replying softly, "Several members of our pack were in the military when the war started. Several more joined, it is something of a tradition among our pack to have military members. But all of them have either died or vanished, their links going silent. I am seeking to find a way to help shifters. Our pack and others. If possible, I wish to bring the missing ones home."

The taller man nods, continuing to stare out. For a while the two of them sit there silently until the falcon suggests, "We should probably get to bed, it's fairly late."

He nods, and the pair of them stands and stretches before jumping down, both landing with easy grace on the ground before they head inside to their respective rooms to sleep.

The following day is actually the first day of practicing with live ammo. The first few rounds go well. He had passed the gun usage tests with ease so he was assisting others in his squad. Then the squad next to them has a problem, one of the young men is trying to figure out if his safety is on when his gun goes off and he feels more than sees as the cobra in the squad collapses to the ground, hand clutching his side as he hisses in pain.

Almost before he can think he is barking orders, _Jacob__,__ Elspeth, keep the humans back. _ A moment later he is dropping to his knees next to the cobra, reaching out with his power as his fingers gently pull back the fatigues to reach the skin below. Sinking his power into the snake, he switches is vision from regular to iota sight. The bullet had ripped into his left side directly below his ribs but because of how tall he is the bullet went upwards shredding his lung, tearing the muscles, and exiting through his right shoulder blade. He was bleeding out.

Frowning, he falls into his power surging through the cobra's body, focusing on the blood vessels and lung. There will be internal scaring because he is doing a speed job, but the cobra will not die. He is determined of that.

_You are a Thera._ He hears deep within his mind, instinctively knowing he is the only one who can hear the tall man.

_Please do not tell the others, I don't care if they know I am an iota, a healer, but they do not need to know how strong a healer._ He replies to the cobra as he continues to work.

A mental nod is the response he receives from the injured shifter.

It takes him less than two minutes to repair the majority of the damage leaving just enough to make it look believable to the human doctors he is sure are going to take care of this. Once he is stable he sits back as the human medics rush to assist, and he gets to his feet looking around as he does so. The cobra is taken to the onsite medic center and the man who shot him is taken for questioning to make sure it really was an accident.

"Elder, what would you like us to do about this?" the cheetah inquires, his voice low so that the humans cannot hear him.

"We will wait until the cobra is back before anything is done. He is a strong telepath and will be able to determine if it was an accident or not." He tells the other shifter softly.

The cheetah nods, relaying the message to the others as the commanders tell them to get back to their practice. That night before dinner, he heads to the medic center to visit with the cobra. His shoulder and torso are wrapped in bandages but he is sitting up glaring at every single person who gets too close to him.

_I dislike people who smell of fear and terror for no reason. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the feel of fear when it is earned but it has to be earned._ The cobra tells him before he has a chance to say anything. _My loyalty you have. _

"Hello Eric, how you feel?" he replies aloud before telepathically responding, _Dark empathy? Why would you be loyal to me?_

The cobra inclines his head in acknowledgement. "Like I had a bullet rip through my chest,"  
his voice is snarky. _I am loyal because you are a Thera. Wolves may not understand the importance of that but I am a cobra. I do. Do not mind if I prefer this means of communication, I forgot how nasty a smell can taste. Dark empathy, indeed, it was my bond gift. _

He nods once before chuckling at that pronouncement. Understanding that snakes can taste and smell through their tongues just like in their animal form. He also knows that cobras have different standards than any of the other species among the shifters. They stick to the oldest of traditions. It was probably through that that the cobra understands exactly what type of healer he is.

_Please say nothing to anyone about the fact I am a thera. It is something I try to keep to myself. Most do not appreciate what a thera can do._ He asks the cobra as he carefully unwraps the shoulder and lays his hand against the injury. Closing his eyes he falls into his healing gift and switches to iota sight as he opens his eyes. Most of the massive damage is healed from his earlier work, now there is only the surface damage, part of which has been worsened by the human doctors attempting to fix it using stitches and heat.

The cobra inclines his head politely. _As you wish. _

"It's looking better," he murmurs aloud as he checks first the shoulder than the side, sending small surges of healing gift through the injuries, healing more of the damage. "I'll be by in the morning to look at it once more," he tells the cobra as he re-bandages him.

_Alright. Rest well._ The cobra tells him before settling back, his black eyes closing.

He smiles at the cobra before leaving and heading to his room to go to bed early. Healing can be tiring, particularly when he heals and keeps going without taking a break. After doing his stretches and taking a shower he lies down and passes out. His body going into hibernation mode as he sleeps deeply until just before the alarm goes off.

Once he is up, he takes the time to shower again before heading to breakfast. Once he is done with breakfast he heads back to the medical building where he waits until the other medical staff is gone before carefully checking and healing the injury a bit more. While he works the two of them have a silent conversation before he inclines his head politely and heads to the training field. That day flows much the same as the previous with one large exception, no one gets accidently shot. When he is done with his training and dinner, he heads back to the medical building and works on the cobra some more before returning to his room to sleep.

The following morning the cobra is released from the medical center and he meets him on his way to the mess hall for breakfast. When the two of them come in, the cobra's eyes sweep the room before resting on the human who had shot him. For a minute the two of them stare at each other before the human looks down and stares at his plate. The cobra's eyes return to sweeping the room before he tilts his head towards him questioningly. Nothing is said, but nothing needs to be.

The rest of the week goes smoothly and soon enough they complete weeks five and six before anything else occurs. Through this time he is carefully considering what he should do next. At this point he is the alpha of an unformal pack. Perhaps the best idea would be to formalize the pack between them. That would give them a bit of protection that they otherwise would not have. It would also allow them to link so they would be able to communicate silently amongst themselves. He would approach Jacob about the idea in the morning.


	5. Pack

_Reviews pretty, pretty please? I really appreciate reviews._

_Recently updated when it was pointed out that I forget to update the parts I had fixed over on AO3_

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_John's POV_ The following day goes quickly and it is soon after dinner. Telepathically he asks the other seven shifters if they would meet him after dark where they had had the dominance fight, they each agree. Roughly an hour later the eight of them meet, with Zachary being the last to get there. As soon as their small group is assembled he greets everyone.

"Well, I am sure you all are wondering why I suggested that we meet, its simple, I would like to suggest making our informal pack into a formal one." he suggests to the collected shifters.

For a moment silence reigns until the falcon inquires, "What brought you to this idea?"

He shrugs replying, "Those in a pack tend to have better protection than those outside of a pack. We all act like a pack already, and I am fairly certain that we will all be assigned to work together once we get past our training."

Again silence falls as the eight of them consider his words. It is the cheetah who states, "Some of us are going into extra training after this."

"Of course, I know I am going for officers training, but I still have a feeling that we will be put together in the long run." He answers softly before questioning, "Who all is going for training past the basic?"

_Computer training, _the cobra answers.

"Officers training," the falcon responds.

"Scouts training," the cheetah and female cat reply at the same time.

He nods, thinking about it, "Well it is still up to all of you. I just thought I would suggest it."

"You're a wolf, can you create a den-bond?" the hyena in their group queries.

Once more he nods, "I can. It is something my uncle tested me on before declaring I was one of the alpha-heirs."

All of the other shifters except the cobra nods. He is mildly surprised when the tall cobra drops down on his knees, inclines his head so the back of his neck is showing as the scales fade away, and offers his left wrist.

_I accept your offer of a den, Elder. My loyalty you have._ The cobra formally states using telepathy.

"I accept your loyalty, Eric, please get up," he accepts the offer, taking hold of the taller mans arm so their wrists connect. The flare of power between them surges, nearly sending him to his knees. With the connection comes the intimate knowledge of pain and loss, it flares hard, catching every part of his empathy and ripping through him with a force he can barely withstand. A sense of his innate personality shines through. Memories flash through his mind.

**—** _The little girl was beautiful. She had jet black hair that was slightly curly and obsidian eyes. She was tiny, barely over three feet tall and wearing a brightly colored sundress. Excitement poured off of her as she prepares for her first formal lessons with their cobra grandmother about the Old Ones and her natural gifts._ **—**

**—** _Pain ripped through him, both within his mind where he could feel his sisters and physically from where the bullet had cut through his chest before exiting his back. The scent of pain and blood fills the air. He can feel the blood pouring down his body as his legs give out. Crying out, he hits the ground even as he blacks out. _ **—**

**—** _The bodies of his family surround him, each one dead. Nearly all of them are dead from a bullet to the brain, except two. His youngest sister Aphrael and his second oldest sister Desari had not died so easily. They had been harmed, brutally tortured and used before they had finally had their throats slit. He had awakened some time during it, dark energy surging through him, coursing through his body as he attempted to attack the hunters who were harming his youngest sister. All that had done was caused them to kill her before turning their attention on him. He had screamed as a knife had sliced through his back. That was just the beginning of all of the pain he would suffer. He was thankful when his body finally shuts down, sending him into unconscious. _ **—**

**—** _Peace fills him, a warmth filling his body. A soft presence fills the air around him. All of the pain he had felt upon waking is gone. He can feel the bones and flesh knitting back together. _ **—**

As soon he releases the cobras arm, the taller man stands, bowing once before inquiring, _Are you alright?_

_I am alright, _he replies as just before the falcon steps forward.

Bowing low once, he presents his right arm, "Elder, I accept your offer of a coop."

Like with the cobra, he clasps arms with falcon. Energy surges between them, with it the link blooms between them. Emotions and thoughts cross between them but it is not nearly as much as what comes from the cobra. Once the link is set between him and the falcon, he feels the bond between the cobra and falcon form, bring the base of their new pack together.

He is surprised when the female multiform steps forward, her golden eyes narrow, "Elder," she murmurs offering her right arm the same way as the previous two, inclining her head enough that her neck shows without doing a full bow. She might not be elite, but she has the pride of one, which is to say she prefers to bow to none. Of course that could be because she is a cat too.

The surge between them is nearly as strong as the one between himself and the cobra. It is full of emotion and need, a desire to belong but an understanding that the chances of that happening were slim. She had been an outcast nearly all her life despite her parents best effort to accept her, the fact she was a true multiform with the ability to become a mouse had made her family uneasy, however they were not the ones who had refused to accept her. That had been the pride and nest elders, neither had liked the fact that her form was so fluid and that she was not submissive to them. A large part of their problem with her was the fact she enjoyed violence, something not considered acceptable among female cats or any mice.

He sways a bit when they release each other, but gives a smile to the cat that is so sure she is not worth having a proper home because of her mixed status.

The tiny mouse is excited as she offers her arm, head low so her neck shows but barely able to hold still. "Please accept my loyalty into the new nest!" she exclaims, joy pouring from her scent, almost overwhelming the other scents in the area.

Pleasure zings between them when their wrists touch. She is overjoyed to belong to a family again. Her birth nest has broken apart due to a bad elder who had gotten several members killed. She is an easy going sort, but there are limits to how much bull she is willing to deal with. The entire reason she had joined the military was to find somewhere to belong. Eventually she wanted to be a teacher, preferably among their own kind. Every part of her mind was open to him, though he pulled back rather than explore it.

When she straightens up and steps back a huge smile covers her face and her eyes shine with pure joy.

Surprise fills him when he notices that the blue-green eyed man he had noticed the first day seems to appear. Now that he is close to him he can smell the human overlay, but its fake, beneath is his real scent, that of a viper and he is certain that if he was not an elite he would not be able to tell the difference. The viper mimics the cobra for actions and states, "I offer my services and loyalty to you and the den," as he offers his right arm.

Information swirls through him as the link is formed when their wrists touch, though it seems to be less than it had been with the first four, he still can go through the older shifters mind if he chooses and gets a feel for the type of personality he has but the flood of information is not nearly as heavy.

After the viper the process seems to get easier as if the base pack needed to be formed first before the others would be able to be added. There was still a swirl of information and emotions when he connected with them. He could still feel the bond as it formed between each but it was not nearly as overwhelming. Instead it felt like when he had practiced with the human shifter-children his uncle had enlisted to check if he could create the bond.

Zachary had volunteered after the surprising viper, his grey eyes unsure since he had not belonged to a shifter clan before, "How do I…" he starts to question but his voice trails off.

Smiling reassuringly at the leopard-eagle, he answers, "If you wish to belong to our mixed pack, simply offer the wrist of your dominant hand and I will pull you within the link."

Nodding once the young man offers his arm after unfastening his sleeve. When their wrists touch, he watches as the mixed shifters eyes widen, his other hand touching the side of his temple as he can suddenly feel the others within the link and hear the low chatter going on within it. He knows that the shifter is amazed by the feeling of belonging that comes from the joining of a pack. When he releases the cat, he steps back, his eyes wide as he glances at those also within the pack.

The hyena offers his arm with a smile, bowing slightly so his neck shows, "Alpha," he murmurs, "I thank you for a home and pack."

The hyena's scent is content and as their wrists touch, he feels the flare of pleasure and joy as the link settles between them, then between him and the pack. As soon as he releases the other shifters arm, the hyena steps over by the leopard and the two discuss the feeling since they had never belonged to a pack before.

The cheetah stares at him for a long time, eyes calculating as he does so before he presents both his throat and wrist, "Elder," he murmurs in exactly the same tone as he had stated after losing the dominance fight. The link between them is the weakest of the pack links, but he can still feel it as it courses through him before merging with the rest of the pack.

Afterwards, the eight of them just visit with each other. A new awareness has been instilled in each of them, though it has a bigger affect on Cyanne, Christopher, and Zachary than it does anyone else. Eric tends to stay back and watches rather than actively seeking to speak with anyone. He has to start the conversation, and it feels odd having someone speak in his head who is standing right nearby rather than aloud. None of the other telepaths he knows does the same thing. Eventually they head back to the barracks to sleep.

As he showers and prepares for bed he carefully feels the link and its connection to each before turning his focus to his original pack link which is just as active though it seems to be slightly different. He can just about hear the people on both links but at different levels so it seems as if he has two different groups of people speaking to him at once though he cannot understand words from either.

His granddame had told him about this before, explaining that when a shifter belonged to more than one pack, the links would each develop differently. Since he was a telepath and an empath, he would be able to feel and hear those within the pack-link without much difficulty. He would have to adjust to having two different sets in his head, because while he was used to his birth pack in his head, this new pack would take some adjusting.

Week seven goes much the same as five and six had, the biggest difference being now they were able to communicate via telepath with an ease. Even the non-telepaths could use the pack link to speak even if they did not do so often and it only reached short distances. That was one of the beauties of the link. The group shared information and due to that, they were never surprised when the humans that were also training pulled off stunts.

At the beginning of week eight they were taken to a remote area for a field test to see how well they had learned. While they were on the way he had felt the cobra focusing on something but he did not listen in, knowing that as soon as he was ready, he would say, instead, he stayed quiet and enjoyed the flight to wherever they were going.


End file.
